Back of beyond: Far away in the outback.
Back of Bourke: The middle of nowhere.
Bag: Lady who is not particularly pleasant.
Bail out: Leave.
Bail up: Hold up, rob, earbash.
Banana Bender: Resident of Queensland.
Barbie (Barbecue): Like a cook out. Many people get together for a 'Barbie' in the warmer months. They are usually BYO (Bring your own) meat and drinks.
Barney: Fight or scuffle.
Barrack: To cheer on a team at a sporting event.
Bastard: General form of address which can mean practically anything from highest praise ('a good bastard') to worst insult ('a rotten bastard'). When in doubt, don't use it.
Battler: Hard trier, struggler.
Beaut, beauty, bewdie: Very good. Excellent.
Belt up!: Shut up!
Berko: Angry.
Bible basher: Minister, or any proselytising Christian.
Bickie: Dollar.
Big mobs: Large amount, heaps.
Bikies: Motorcyclists.
Billabong: Water hole in a dry riverbed, or more correctly an ox-bow bend cut off in the dry season by receding waters.
Billy: Used for making tea in, usually over a campfire. The best billies are the old ones, which make better tea.
Bitumen: Surfaced road.
Black Stump: Out towards the horizon. A long way away.
Block: Block has a few meanings but the more Aussie one is your head.
Bloke: Person, usually a male.
Bloody: All-purpose intensifying adjective.
Blowies: Blow flies.
Bludge: Not doing anything or getting things from others.
Bludger: Lazy person.
Blue: A fight.
Bluey: A swag; or the nickname of someone with red hair.
Bonzer: Great, ripper.
Boomer: Very large; a particularly large male kangaroo.
Boomerang: Curved flat wooden instrument used by Aborigines for hunting. If your boomerang returns, it means you MISSED!
Booze: Alcohol, usually beer.
Booze bus: Police van used for random breath testing for alcohol.
Bottle shop: Liquor shop.
Buckley's: No chance at all.
Bug (Moreton Bay bug): Small crab.
Bullamanka: Imaginary place even beyond back of Bourke, way beyond the black stump.
Bull dust: Fine and sometimes deep dust on outback roads. And a polite version of bullshit.
Bunyip: Mythical bush spirit, mainly associated with rivers, with an overtone of cuteness.
Burl: Have a try, as in 'give it a burl'.
Bush: Somewhere in the country or away from the city. Go bush means go back to the land.
Bushbash: Force one's way through pathless bush.
Bushranger: Outlaw, analogous to the outlaws of the American Wild West (some goodies, some baddies).
Bush tucker: Native foods, usually in the outback.
Butcher's: To look. Rhyming slang from 'butcher's hook'.
BYO: Bring Your Own (booze to a restaurant, meat to a barbecue, etc.)

Dag, daggy: Dirty lump of wool at the back end of a sheep, also an affectionate or mildly abusive term for a socially inept person.
Daks: Trousers.
Damper: Bush loaf made from flour and water cooked in a camp oven.
Dead horse: Tomato sauce.
Deli: Delicatessen. Milk bar in South Australia and Western Australia.
Dijeridu: Cylindrical musical instrument played usually by Aboriginal men.
Dill: Idiot.
Dillybag: Small bag to carry things.
Dinkie die: The whole truth.
Dinkum, fair dinkum: Genuine or honest.
Divvy van: Police divisional van.
Do your nana: Lose your rag, spit the dummy, lose your temper.
Dob In: To tell (an authority) on someone.
Donk: Car or boat engine.
Don't come the raw prawn: Don't try to fool me.
Down south: The rest of Australia, according to someone north of Brisbane, Queensland.
Drive the porcelain bus: Vomit.
Dry, the: Dry season in the north.
Drongo: Worthless or stupid person.
Duco: Car paint.
Dunny: Outdoor lavatory.
Dunny budgies: Blow flies.

Earbash: Non-stop talk.
Eastern states: The rest of Australia, according to someone in Western Australia.
Enzedder: New Zealander.
Esky: Large insulated box for keeping beer etc. cold, (short for Eskimo box).
Evo: Evening.

Fair crack of the whip!: Fair go!
Fair dinkum: Genuine or honest.
Fair go: Give some a chance or an opportunity to do something.
Financial: To be flush with cash.
FJ: Most revered Holden car.
Flake: Shark meat, used in fish and chips.
Flaming: All-purpose intensifying adjective.
Flat out: As fast as possible.
Floater: Meat pie floating in pea soup, viewed by Australians either as a great delicacy or as a great emetic.
Flog: Sell; steal.
Fossick: To hunt for gemstones.
From arsehole to breakfast: All over the place.
Furphy: A rumour or a false story.

Galah: Noisy parrot, thus noisy idiot.
Game: Brave.
Gander: Have a look.
Garbo: Garbage collector.
G'day: A greeting. It is the Aussie way of saying good day.
Gibber or gibby: Aboriginal word for stony desert.
Give it away: Give up.
Going 'troppo': Going tropical; laid-back and fun-loving; insane.
Good oil: Accurate information.
Good possie: Advantageous position.
Good on ya!: Well done!
Grazier: Large-scale sheep or cattle farmer.
Grizzle: To complain.
Grog: General term for alcohol.
Grouse: Very good, unreal.
Gum Sucker: Resident of Victoria.
Gumtree: Eucalyptus.
Gutzer: Some plans don't work out or to have an accident (to come a gutzer).

Hire: To rent, as 'to hire a car'.
His nibs: The boss.
Hooley: Wild party.
Hoon: Idiot, hooligan, yahoo.
Hooly-Dooly: An expression of surprise.
Hotel: Sometimes means only a pub.
How are ya?: Standard greeting.
HQ: Second most revered Holden car.
Hump: To carry.

Icy-pole: Frozen lolly water or ice cream on a stick.
Identity: Celebrity.
In full feather: In fine health.
In yer boot!: An expression of disagreement (archaic).
It's a goer: Something that will definitely occur.

Jack-in-the-box: Person who can't sit still.
Jackaroo or Jillaroo: Trainee on a cattle station (ranch or farm).
Jingoes!: Exclamation of wonder.
Jocks: Men's or boys' underpants.
Joe Bloggs: The average citizen.
Joey: Baby kangaroo, still in the pouch.
Journo: Journalist.
Jumbuck: Sheep.
Jumped-up: Full of self-importance; arrogant.

Kafuffle: Argument.
Kanga or kangaroo: Shoe.
Keen as mustard: Enthusiastic.
Kelpie: Sheep dog or cattle dog.
Kerbside quiche: Vomit.
Kick: To share or join in.
Kick-in: to provide your share. The pot (kitty) is called the 'kick'.
Kip: Sleep or nap.
Kiwi: New Zealander.
Knackers: Testicles (also love spuds, nuts, nads).
Knock: To criticise.
Knocker: One who criticises.
Kombi: Multi-purpose van-like vehicle, often modified so the back seats were folded down to get a mattress in the back.
Koori: Aborigine (mostly south of the Murray River).

Ma Stater: Resident of New South Wales.
Mad: Crazy (seldom means anger).
Mallee: Remote bushland of Victoria.
Manchester: Household linen.
Mate: This usually means a friend but it can be used to talk about or to anyone - even a total stranger.
Matey with: Familiar or friendly with.
Matilda: The belongings of a swagman, wrapped in a blanket or bedroll.
Middy: 285 ml beer glass (New South Wales).
Milk bar: Corner general store.
Milko: Milkman.
Mob: Group of person or things (not necessarily unruly).
Mozzie: Mosquito.
Mug: Either a fool or your face.

Ras

08-09-2006, 09:39 AM

Naff: Ridiculous, useless.
Nana: Banana.
Nark: Spoilsport.
Narked: Annoyed.
Neddies: Horses.
Never-never: Desert region far away in the outback.
Nick: To steal.
Nick out: Go somewhere for short period of time.
Nit: Fool or idiot.
No hoper: Hopeless case.
No shortage of oscar: To be flush with money.
No worries!: Everything will be fine!
Noise off: Speak loudly.
North Island: Mainland Australia, according to someone in Tasmania.
Northern summer: Summer in the Northern Hemisphere.
Nulla-nulla: Wooden club used by Aborigines.
Num-nums: Tasty food.

Ocker: Uncultivated or boorish Australian.
Off-sider: Assistant or partner.
Oil: Information.
On a good lurk: To have a good job.
OS: Overseas.
Outback: The bush, or uncivilised uninhabited region.
Oy!: An ocker's call; hey!
Owyergoin: How are you going? Often used with 'G'day' and 'Mate'.
OYO: On your own (flat or apartment).
Oz: Australia, as in Oz-tralia.

Sack: To dismiss from a job.
Salvo: Member of the Salvation Army.
Sandgroper: Resident of Western Australia; sand-burrowing desert insect.
Scallops: Fried potato cakes (Queensland and New South Wales), shellfish (elsewhere).
Scheme: System or method (no negative connotation).
School: Group of drinkers, each of whom buys a round.
Schooner: Large beer glass (New South Wales, South Australia).
Screamer: Noisy drunk.
Scrub: Can be the same as the bush or it can mean areas in the country without many trees.
Sea wasp: Deadly box jellyfish.
Sealed road: Surfaced road.
See you in the soup: See you around.
Semitrailer: Articulated truck.
Septic: Disparaging term for an American ('septic tank' rhymes with 'Yank').
Session: Lengthy period of heavy drinking.
Sheila: Female or woman.
Shellacking: Complete defeat.
She'll be right!: Everything will be fine!
Shivoo: Rowdy party (archaic).
Shonky: Unreliable.
Shoot Through: To leave or disappear in a hurry.
Shout: Pay for someone else, particularly a round of drinks.
Shove off!: Go away!
Shirty: To get upset or angry.
Sickie: Day off work ill, or malingering.
Silk shirt on a pig: Something wasted.
Sink the boot: Go in hard.
Skint: Broke.
Skite: To boast.
Slab: 24 cans (tinnies) of beer, shrink-wrapped as a unit.
Slog: Hard work.
Smoko: Smoke or tea break.
Snag: Sausage.
Sport: More general way to refer to someone rather than a mate.
Spunky: Good-looking, attractive as in 'what a spunk'.
Square off: Apologise and make reparations.
Square up: Prepare to fight (as in boxing).
Squatter: Large landowner who originally occupied land as a tenant of the government.
Squattocracy: Australian 'old money' folk, who made their fortunes by being first on the scene and grabbing the land.
Station: Large farm or ranch.
Sticky beak: Nosy person.
Stinger: Deadly box jellyfish.
Strewth!: It's the truth! An exclamation, often of surprise.
Strides: Daks, trousers.
Strine: Australian slang ('Australian' spoken in strine).
Stubby: 375 ml bottle of beer.
Sunbake: Sunbathe.
Surfy: Surfing fanatic.
Swag: Canvas-covered bedroll used in the outback.
Swagman: Vagabond, rural tramp.
Swimmers: Swimming costume (Queensland, Victoria).

Waffle: Nonsense.
Wag: To skip school or work.
Walkabout: Lengthy walk away from it all.
Waltz Matilda: To carry a swag.
West Island: Australia, to a New Zealander.
Wharfie: Dockworker.
Whinge: Complain and carry on unnecessarily.
Whomajigger: Term for person or thing whose actual name one can't remember.
Willy-nilly: Small dust twister. Also, without thought.
Wobbly: Disturbing, unpredictable behaviour, as in 'throw a wobbly'.
Woomera: Stick used by Aborigines to throw spears.
Wowser: Spoilsport or puritan.